Martin Oliner

Martin Oliner is an American attorney, former politician, and Zionist activist, serving as chairman of the Religious Zionists of America.

Career

Oliner served as mayor of Lawrence, New York, from 2010 to 2016.
In 2020, Oliner was appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council by President Donald Trump.

Gaza War comments

A contributor to The Jerusalem Post, in February 2025 Oliner wrote that "The people of Gaza are collectively guilty” for the October 7, 2023 attack, adding "They are fundamentally evil, and they must pay a price for their actions."
On March 27, 2025, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement calling for Oliner's removal from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council following a video was released from a May 2024 Israel Heritage Foundation event in attended by Ofir Akunis, then the recently appointed Israeli consul general in New York.
In the video, Oliner said in a message directed towards Akunis that "You, as a representative in America, as general consul, have to take back the views of this group, which I think are pretty clear: that the state of Israel has to do what it has to do,” adding, “Look, we’ve been accused of genocide, so maybe it’s up to us to actually kill civilians.”